K&B Purple is better remembered than the original name of this drug store. Acquired by Rite Aid in 1997 the stores have all been repainted and the K&B brand is now gone.

Founding partners Gustave Katz and Sydney Besthoff opened their first drug store in 1905 at 732 Canal Street. In 1911 a paper merchant with a large order of unwanted purple wrapping paper sold the rolls of paper to Katz & Besthoff for his freight cost. The unusual paper attracted such attention and word-of-mouth advertising that purple became the drug chain's identifying corporate color.

In 1977 the name of the corporation was officially changed from Katz and Besthoff to K&B, Inc. Managers believed that an overtly Jewish name would be a liability as the store expanded in the Gulf South region in 1977.